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"Discouraged to" vs. "Recommended to not"

English Language & Usage Asked on September 20, 2020

  • In the past, pregnant women have been recommended to not exercise because of presumed risks of preterm birth.
  • In the past, pregnant women have been discouraged to exercise because of presumed risks of preterm birth.

Which construction is better in technical writing: "discouraged to" or "recommended to not"?

The former one seems to be much more common, but the latter one looks more transparent to me. (English is not my primary language and so my opinion regarding transparency doesn’t have any real value.) And since, in technical writing, clarity is the paramount, the latter version could be much better.

Still, I’m not sure whichever version to choose.

Since this question is tagged as "writing-style", I hope it won’t be closed as opinion-based.

One Answer

In academic writing, there is no reason not to report, if relevant, that women were discouraged from exercising when pregnant. Girls have been discouraged from studying science, for example.

Note that “to discourage someone from doing something” is an active use of discouraged; it takes an object. He discouraged her. He discouraged exercise.

On the other hand, “I was discouraged to learn that there were few jobs for women in that field” is using the verb as stative. This seems to be what most of your examples do. The verb is intransitive in this kind of use.

Correct answer by Xanne on September 20, 2020

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